Brothers, Lovers, Sewers and Friends
by the Capuchin Cappuccino
Summary: Brosami, not Bosami. Asami gets to be emotional too- isn't it fortunate Bolin's always around? S1E11, before Mako and Korra return from watching the Equalist rally.


Brosami, not Bosami. S1E11, before Mako and Korra return from watching the Equalist rally.

Asami couldn't help it that she was crying. She couldn't help that she and Mako had grown apart, or that he looked at Korra like he had never looked at her. She couldn't help that he didn't give a damn, or that she had never been so alone in her entire life.

She had always had her father, especially after Mom died. She had trusted him, relied upon him. She had betrayed him. The lightning flicker of her gauntlet on his imposing chest, and the look of horror and betrayal on his face still haunted her. It haunted her like the image of her mother, watching the family she had died loving sundered.

And the funny thing was, nobody seemed to understand or care what she had done. Maybe it was because none of her friends had ever really had family. Not even so much of a family as Asami did, as messed up as it was. Korra had been training with the White Lotus since she was tiny, and Mako was an orphan.

Yet Mako, who should by rights most appreciate family, and its importance, considering that his family died, and his father's scarf was the one thing he treasured, was entirely insensitive. He had never truly communicated well, and since he had realized that the home she had brought him into was that of an Equalist, he had distanced himself from her.

When she tried to accuse him of not being sensitive, when she tried to call him out on loving Korra, he closed up. When she tried to talk about how she felt, when she tried to cry on his shoulder, he closed up. She could see his stony face, his permanent unhappy scowl. The way he looked away.

She had kissed those lips, and left dark lipstick stains across that face. Asami had marked it as hers, from cheek to cheek and forehead to chin. They had kissed in corners and after pro-bending matches, at dinner and in carts and cars and all other manner of places.

She had looked up into his eyes, and seen a fire, and he had told her he loved her. She had told him she loved him. Mako had wrapped his arms around her, and held her tightly against his chest. He had held her when she cried and had lost everything. Could he so easily abandon that?

And where did that leave her, other than alone and crying in the sewers? She was the daughter of the wealthiest man in Republic City. If it weren't for Asami, the Avatar, Mako, and Bolin would have been captured, as well as Tenzin and Lin. She had turned against the man who had raised her and loved her as only a father could to help them, and now they looked at her like she was a potential Equalist. Not even because of who her father was, but because she wasn't a bender.

She had given away everything, and in return, she was now tied to a man who either could not, or would not love her.

Her shoulders heaved, as she wept, head in hands, her carefully applied makeup smudging and running. She had tried so hard to keep it together. But without Mako, or even Korra-

"It's tough, isn't it." Bolin said softly, interrupting her reverie as he padded up. For an earthbender, he could certainly move quietly. Pabu chittered sympathetically, and skittered from Bolin's shoulders to hers as he sat down, and she couldn't help but laugh. "That's better." Bolin added. "Laughing is good."

"Where were you?" Asami asked. She had thought she was alone in their ragtag makeshift camp. Of course, she hadn't really considered Bolin's presence. She never really considered Bolin. Nobody did, even when Bolin was the only one who wasn't consumed with drama. Sometimes Bolin didn't even consider himself.

Maybe it was hard to have an ego around Mako. He made everything so unselfconsciously about him that it got difficult to remember who you were, or keep your head straight.

"Hiding in my tent. I didn't think you'd want me to see you... Um..." Bolin said, and trailed off, evidently at a verbal impasse. His looked like he was about to say something more, but evidently couldn't.

"Moping? Crying over nothing like a baby?" Asami asked bitterly. "Doing nothing, per usual?"

"In pain." Bolin said flatly, his green eyes staring at her. "You're in pain."

"I'm fine." Asami looked away. "Absolutely fine."

Bolin looked concernedly at her. "You didn't look fine, Asami. Pabu knows what I'm saying."

The fire ferret chittered, and nodded his little head. She lifted him from her shoulders, and held him close to her, stroking the soft fur on the back of his neck. Asami looked up from Pabu with a weak smile.

"So why did you decide to come out and talk to me?" Asami asked, looking at him.

"I figured you needed Pabu at the least. And maybe someone to talk to."

"Well, I certainly need that." She admitted. "The last few weeks have been really hard for me. With my dad, and... well, your brother and Korra." The unspoken words rang out: _They're in love._

Bolin looked off to the side. "I... I felt that too. You remember that date Korra and I had? Well, it was wonderful. We both had a good time. She wandered off... and, you know." It still seemed to rankle the even-tempered earthbender. "You know, people just don't _do _that. When you're on a date, there's a general rule not to go and- oh, Asami!"

She had broken down again, and Asami fell sobbing onto Bolin. He blinked in surprise, but he carefully supported her weeping figure.

"We'll figure them out, Asami. We can do it."

"It's all a mess..." she managed through the tears. "All a mess..."

"Well, you have me now." Bolin said, folding her into a hug, a hug she needed, despite his foul stench from living in a sewer for a week. "Friends stick together."

"And we're friends." Asami managed, her tears drying. "You must think me nonsensical for crying like this. When the city's under occupation, when everything's crazy, to cry over a boy."

"I think you're the most sensical person I know." Bolin said. Pabu chittered again, and skittered onto her head. Asami giggled.

"Thanks, Bolin. I appreciate it. And... you're pretty sensical yourself."

"When everything's messed up, we sensical types have to stick together." Bolin said seriously, but with a humorous glint in his eyes.


End file.
